What do you think?

[racergeo]

     Robfrey, You are so WRONG!!!  If you built a streamliner it would blow the record into the weeds!!! The A b/g/s  record is very soft as it was set by Joe Laws lakester and he lost the "rubber bands on his little alum. front wheels on the back up run. Anyway build the thing and go an easy 350 and the hook will be set. Those blown gas records are fairly soft. Oh and I loved the end of that movie. Where are women like that when you need them?  George

[Wester]

Speaking of Joe Law ... who can forget the  year he brought Trish to the salt as a first time driver?  She not only got all her licensing runs in, she ended up with the 317 mph top time of the meet, her first year driving on the salt.  She had experience racing in motocross back home in West Virginia.  Joe saw a chance to get her some seat time in what he knew was a fast car.  He was only disappointed that she didn't go faster because he knew the car had gone faster and could go faster.  Fremont, WV isn't exactly the center of land speed racing.  It took Joe hours to get his long trailer back to his shop after a trip to the salt.  Backing up the narrow dirt road, the steep hill, the 90 degree turn in the middle were as much of a challenge as the salt in some ways.  Joe did a lot of thinking about his problems and found solutions he was willing to try.  The "quick change front end" that allowed the lakester to become a streamliner in a couple of hours is a great example along with the two piece aluminum front wheels with the carefully researched, multiple cord, "rubber bands."  He used the rules to his advantage, an example was the street roadster with the now dis-allowed headlight buckets used as turbocharger air intakes.  Thinkers make salt flats racing great!

[akk]

Brandon,
You are awsome! Our pit is open to all, but I would like to extend a personal invitation for you and your team share some brew one evening.

Yes our team wears button down collar, Yellow shirts. Yes some of us are wealthy. There is not one paid hand that has ever touched that 277 mph gmr we run. If you get a good look at the welds on it ..most are big and ugly... I did them and I am proud of them , the pretty ones on the roll cage and on the water tank were done for free by a team member who is a professional welder. The guy who handles the electric fuel injection and data logger is an engineer... who had never done that sort of stuff before...he is part of the team and has never been paid for any of it. Our driver also does the fiberglass work (we all help and get real itchy),..he does not expect nor has ever been paid for his involvement. We rent the push truck and every year three of us tow the trailer out to Bonneville...another three of us tow it home (a 30 hour drive,each way). I prefer the trip home so I can come down slowly from the incredable experience of "Bonneville". All of us including the wealthy, poor, white collar and blue collar put in a lot of time and effort (including getting our hands dirty and itchy all over from fiberglass)... each contributing what they can.

We are all proud of our accomplishments. The A/GMR, B/GMR, C/GMR, D/GMR AND E/GMR records. It took six years of effort. The car has been modified every year and our drag coefficient keeps going down. We know that we can reset all of our records......therefor I am certain others can break our records!

It amazes me that some people do not get it! It seems old school is stuck thinking the only way to go faster is to make more horsepower. We buy a good engine and work on making the car easier to push. Our "secrets" are in plain view (ugly to some) and can be duplicated cheaply. To beat us you need better aerodynamics or a lot of horsepower.

There are those that want to look cool and those who want to go fast. We tend to want to go fast but resist the urge to fair the cowl and remove the last vestage of the 23 ford body that to us is symbolic of the hotrod heritage of the roadster class.

Seth hammond and his crew are awsome, they get it, look cool and go fast!

Wait till you see our streamliner it wont be as pretty as Seths' lakester, probably ugly to some ...but hopefully very fast.

AKK
   







m

[robfrey]

     Robfrey, You are so WRONG!!!  If you built a streamliner it would blow the record into the weeds!!! The A b/g/s  record is very soft as it was set by Joe Laws lakester and he lost the "rubber bands on his little alum. front wheels on the back up run. Anyway build the thing and go an easy 350 and the hook will be set. Those blown gas records are fairly soft. Oh and I loved the end of that movie. Where are women like that when you need them?  George

Thanks George! I think you stack me too high on dung heap. I'm guessing you are talking about the "My Cousin Vinny" Movie?

As far as building the line goes, the scariest thing for me to design and build right now is the canopy and everything else associated with getting in and out of the car.

[SPARKY]

"It took six years of effort. The car has been modified every year and our drag coefficient keeps going down. We know that we can reset all of our records......therefor I am certain others can break our records!"

AKK---This personifies the LSR SPIRT and dedication that successfull teams have!!!!!!!!!! They keep learning and working---Money involved Lord I guess----but hours and hours of reading and research trying to get the DRAG down and the TE up! tractive effort

As the boy's down below say  "good on y'all"    

[akk]

Thanks Sparky

This general thread pushed my button.  In any endeavor (here we want to go fast, mess about with cars, meet cool people and generally have fun) there are choices to make from "SOONER", "BETTER" AND "CHEAPER"......the problem is that you only get to pick 2!

The wealthy guys don't have to eliminate cheaper (though some do) , but have to choose between better or sooner.

The guys who are professional (I assume that in this forum we mean "one who makes his living from racing") don't have to eliminate better (though some do), but have to choose between sooner or cheaper.

I guess that if you aren't wealthy or professional you are stuck with cheaper (though some spend the money anyway) and have to choose between sooner or better.

The point is that every one can achieve there goals if they have the time, money, talent and reasonable goals.

Does any body want to know why we wear those "button down collar Yellow shirts"? 

[fastesthonda_jim]

"Does any body want to know why we wear those "button down collar Yellow shirts"? "

Naw... unless it'll make it/me go faster.  I mean it's NOT "Bonneville Wardrobe Week" okay!

And I say go ahead and build an ugly liner.  It's what all the COOL guys are doing.  (As the trendsetter I know these things y'unnerstan?)

Jim

[racergeo]

   Although in the truest sense, the only professional teams that have come to the salt are those like the Diesel Max who spent 11 million. There effort was to showcase there diesel engine and its excellence. They came with the big push rig and the camera crew to document the whole attempt. It was probably a business write off.
   Someone who comes to the salt with a top notch looking effort like Top Burkland and family are just that TOP NOTCH.Tom is a highly educated (and considered by many a genius) fellow how does everything at a very high level. All the crew and support equipment are absolutely accentual to making a serious and safe attempt a a record. He has built the necessary equipment and car as frugally as anyone could to get the results he expected.
  In any form of racing or sport, those who don't succeed, tend to attach negative labels to the efforts of those that do. You know the ones, like cheater or professional or filthy rich. LOL ( Jr. Johnson,a filthy rich professional cheater was just elected to the stock car hall of fame, so it ain't all bad )

[SPARKY]

Come AKK I will bite---originally they were to keep them from flappin in the breeze and slaping the owner when he was charging on his polo pony !!!!

[akk]

Sparky we gotta get together at Bonneville.

....................................TEAM BUILDING ...WILL HELP YOU GO FASTER... BY ATTRACTING BETTER TALENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is probably significant that the really greats of this sport have awsome teams. Not to say that "lone wolf" types don't set records.

A team is an identifiable group that has a uniform purpose. As a group a team is dentifiable to others. Wearing a uniform is not necessarily a professional thing...like pro football teams, pro drag teams, UPS, the local auto repair shop or Penskie Racing; but also non professional teams, like little league teams, bowling teams and some Bonneville teams. A team uniform is a message to a competitor that, as a team, we stand together in our mission, are proud of our our efforts, our results, and challenge others to compete.

The uniform dosen't have to be ironed shirts...it can be no shirt. It can be any color. We chose yellow. Sometimes a tee shirt... the button down (not always buttoned) we think is symbolic of a first class effort.

This may seem silly, proffessional or big bucks to some.....we think it works. What do you think?

 Akk

[SPARKY]

LOOKing  forward to it!!!!!Spot on about the team---we chose a more expensive approach---let two of our team earn their AA lisc and have a 1 run shot at qualifying---our efforts fell short due to "Salt Gremlins" but we will be back and next year we will once again try- --I may not be able to stay out of the car this year---so we are building a truck to handle excess driver urges!!!!!!!!!!

[McRat]

Color can be important...

British Officer and French Officer talking at a tavern in the 1700's:

Col. Lebeau:  "You Brits are pretty foolish.  Wearing a red jacket in battle.  It makes you an easy target."

Maj. Smith:  "It's good for moral.  If we take a bullet, the soldiers won't see that we were hit.  Can I ask why you wear brown pants?"

[desotoman]

This may seem silly, proffessional or big bucks to some.....we think it works. What do you think?

 Akk

I think most people could care less. This subject has you all wound up. If you like uniforms, go for it. It is  your car, your team, and your money, spend it how you like.  

Tom G.

[Glen]

Real hot rodders and LSR do it for the love, not because of the money.

[jimmy six]

Akk---Nothing your team is building will be "slow" (trust me here everyone)

My guess on the shirts woulfd be someone on the team owns a clothing store .

I have always admired what your team has done; when I saw and talked to you in impounds or inspection all of your team were straight forward and honest. (not always found).

Some races and others actually don't see what they are looking at. An action I have always found rewarding when people ask me about my own car. Good Luck with your liner.........JD